The Absolute Cost of Homelessness - Calgary Drop-In & Rehab ...

2The Absolute Cost of HomelessnessWith 50 years experience in servinghomeless and low income Calgarians,the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre(DI) has a historical perspective and theprerequisite empirical data that evidencesthe real benefits and costs of supportingchronically homeless Calgarians. Using theinformation from our database, a rich andcomprehensive record of individual clienthistories, our evidence confirms that thecost to support one chronically homelessindividual in Calgary is almost half thesuggested costs put forward in otherresearch.the cost of homelessness reaches beyond the bottom lineThere is a cost to homelessness.Just as there is a cost, social andmoral, to family abuse; addictions;poverty; foster care and any other provisionof social services to people inneed. When we as a collectivevoice allow myths to overridethe facts, we undermine theefforts of those working hardto make a difference in the lifeof someone on the street.A fundamental flaw inpresenting the cost as$100,000 for all homelessindividuals is that thecomplexity of homelessnessand its impact on the individual is lost inthe data that reflects an aggregate cost forall homeless Calgarians. As an example,the figure of $100,000 is based on the top18 most frequent emergency service users“Our evidence confirmsthat the cost to supportone chronicallyhomeless individual inCalgary is almost halfthe suggested costsput forward in otherresearch.”The Calgary Homeless Foundation’s(CHF) Report to Community 2009, “TheHomeless Among Us”, states, “It costs$100,000 a year in social services tosupport one homeless person. There arethousands of them in Calgary.” (p.8) InHomeless exercise their write tospeak 1 , Tim Barber, a self-describedveteran of homelessness, attempting toenlighten Calgarians with a new perspectiveon homelessness, states, “Over $100,000per year is spent on every homeless personin Alberta.” His comment further cementsthe collective opinion that every homelessindividual is a significant cost on tax-payersand public purses.reported in the CHF’s Report on the Costof Homelessness in Calgary, publishedJanuary 28, 2008. Applying these coststo every homeless Calgarian creates a biasthat supports the view thatwe are turning our backson those who need us. 2 Thecorrelative view would be tosuggest that every Calgarian isa frequent emergency serviceuser with, for example, annualunpaid emergency servicefees of $25,191 3 . Suggestingevery homeless individualcosts $100,000 burdens eachindividual with a social andmoral cost where their valuein our communities is preceded by the costto support them – a cost that is not reflectiveof the individual, but rather, of the sector asa whole.The Absolute Cost of Homelessness